YouTube Ads

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scriptor2016
Posts: 844
Joined: 21 Dec 2015, 02:34

YouTube Ads

Post by scriptor2016 » 29 Nov 2019, 21:12

Just wondering what everyone's opinion on YouTube ads are - is finding a way to stop them a losing battle?

I've used various techniques in the past to stop the ads, and some of these techniques indeed worked for a period of time.

There was a small app called Privoxy and when it was run in the background, it was able to eliminate the ads entirely, and this worked for quite some time. Eventually however, it stopped working, due to what I assume is the relentless re-coding that Google seems to implement on a daily basis to make sure those ads can't be beaten- and Privoxy didn't keep up.

Next up, there's a site called nsfwyoutube.com which also for a time, would eliminate the ads. All this site does is embed the video onto their site and the ads are gone. This also worked for quite some time, but as to be expected - has now changed as well. The user can still copy and paste the youtube link and load it into nsfwyoutube.com, but now there are ads on that site as well when you try to play the video. This happened just recently. The problem here is that the ads pop up in the form of an additional tab, and happens whenever you click on the volume slider, or that fast fwd/rewind buttons, etc. Eventually after a few attempts the video will play, and will not show any more ads for the duration of the video until you click again on it somewhere such as the volume slider, fwd/rewind buttons, etc. So this is better than nothing but has become cumbersome to actually get the video started.

I figured this would be as good a place as any to ask - do the pro's here think that it's a losing battle and that ads just have to be accepted, or are there still ways around it? Perhaps with ahk?

gregster
Posts: 8886
Joined: 30 Sep 2013, 06:48

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by gregster » 29 Nov 2019, 21:46

Hi scriptor2016,
I moved your topic to the Offtopic forum, because I don't think it's really AHK-related with its current scope. I doubt that you can do much about it, using AHK.

That said, in my main browser Firefox I haven't seen Youtube ads for a long time - but I have the uBlock origin add-on installed (along with uMatrix) - also available for other browsers. The difference gets always very apparent, when I use Chrome without a blocking Add-on, my Youtube Chromecast app or my smart phone. But from what I here, there might be more ads in other parts of the world. There are also a number of websites that try to convince me nicely to de-activate the ad blocker (or block me right away as long as it is active). Depending on what it is, I consider it. But Youtube doesn't seem to care (at least here in Germany - or the EU ?), so far... tbh, I am still surprised about that.

guest3456
Posts: 3453
Joined: 09 Oct 2013, 10:31

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by guest3456 » 30 Nov 2019, 22:00

i use AdBlockPlus on Chrome and i haven't seen a youtube ad in years

on mobile youtube ap, i see ads all the time


SOTE
Posts: 1426
Joined: 15 Jun 2015, 06:21

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by SOTE » 01 Dec 2019, 02:58

In both Chrome and Firefox, there are all kinds of add-ons that you can get that will stop YouTube Ads.

Google (YouTube owner), like many companies, are greedy as hell. Plus add in Google's continual destruction of user privacy and various stealth tracking methods for Ad targeting and other hidden questionable purposes.

YouTube Premium, their Ad-Free subscription service is arguably expensive. Google/YouTube could have debatably done better by making the Premium subscription cheaper to switch over more users. Especially when jumping from free. A lot of companies are so caught up in greed, they are not paying enough attention to overall viewer experience. Seems like they are trying to drown viewers in Ads, in an attempt to force them to pay for Premium in order to keep their sanity. I think a lot of people are hoping that some other video viewing platform becomes popular enough to replace YouTube one day soon.

If there will be an AHK solution, it will likely have to involve dealing with the internals of the browser. Maybe one of the programming wizards can cook something up with Chrome.ahk (https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=42890) or Tank's WebWriter (https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=68961&p=299600&hilit=tank#p299600), which needs iWebBrowser2.ahk.

Greast
Posts: 71
Joined: 24 Oct 2020, 19:01

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Greast » 14 Nov 2020, 14:41

@guest3456 If you have Android, you can download Adguard adblocker it could block 100% ads.
“You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?”
― George Bernard Shaw

guest3456
Posts: 3453
Joined: 09 Oct 2013, 10:31

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by guest3456 » 14 Nov 2020, 14:43

Greast wrote:
14 Nov 2020, 14:41
@guest3456 If you have Android, you can download Adguard adblocker it could block 100% ads.
that requires watching youtube inside chrome right? not using the youtube app?


Greast
Posts: 71
Joined: 24 Oct 2020, 19:01

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Greast » 14 Nov 2020, 14:51

@guest3456
If you use a paid Adguard it blocks all advertisements in all apps including the Youtube app. But of course, it costs around 13$, but it's worth it.
“You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?”
― George Bernard Shaw

guest3456
Posts: 3453
Joined: 09 Oct 2013, 10:31

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by guest3456 » 14 Nov 2020, 18:03

Greast wrote:
14 Nov 2020, 14:51
@guest3456
If you use a paid Adguard it blocks all advertisements in all apps including the Youtube app. But of course, it costs around 13$, but it's worth it.
hmmm interesting, so then it must be like a firewall and block on the network level?


Greast
Posts: 71
Joined: 24 Oct 2020, 19:01

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Greast » 14 Nov 2020, 19:16

@guest3456
What do you mean by "firewall and block on the network level". It's just like an adblocker that blocks internet ads, so it's like software detected a Google Advertisement and it blocks. I have been using it for over 1 year and I am being happy to use this as an adblocker and I have a great experience!
“You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?”
― George Bernard Shaw

wmm666
Posts: 3
Joined: 26 Nov 2020, 00:59

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by wmm666 » 26 Nov 2020, 05:36

Used uBlock Origin for many years.
Last edited by wmm666 on 27 Nov 2020, 06:52, edited 2 times in total.

Greast
Posts: 71
Joined: 24 Oct 2020, 19:01

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Greast » 26 Nov 2020, 16:33

@wmm666
In phone?
“You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?”
― George Bernard Shaw

Guest

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Guest » 27 Nov 2020, 08:29

I rewind the video to the very end and then turn on the replay, so my ads turn off while watching.

Greast
Posts: 71
Joined: 24 Oct 2020, 19:01

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Greast » 08 Dec 2020, 18:51

@Guest
Hmm, what youtube version you have. I think they fixed it :/
“You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?”
― George Bernard Shaw

User avatar
jballi
Posts: 723
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:34

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by jballi » 14 Dec 2020, 15:56

Old post. Someone woke it last month. Still relevant.

YouTube ads are out of control. I was watching a medium-long video a few months back. Someway, somehow, there was an ad every couple of minutes. If you count the ads at the beginning and end of the video, there were 8 to 10 ads for a 13 minute video. I vowed then never to watch a YouTube video with ads if I could help it.

The solution?

1) Ad blockers and DNS proxy services with ad block sites. Ad blockers are good but they don't all work well for YT ads. DNS proxy with ad blockers have the same problem. However, some ad blockers work very well for YT and they block ads for other apps.

Personally, I use a DNS proxy server that includes many ad sites but it is no good for YT. I've never used an ad blocker so I can't speak much on that topic.

2) Downloading the video without the ads works the best. Well, at least for me.

Web sites that download YT videos do work, for the most part, but they have their own problems. Most of them have their own ads and many of the ads are pop-ups.

The best solution I've found so far is 3D Youtube Downloader. They have a 32-bit and 64-bit version and it's free. You may need to update the program every once in a while because stuff on the internet, especially from Google, changes occasionally.

You can find a few alternate programs here. And no, I haven't tested any of them.

scriptor2016
Posts: 844
Joined: 21 Dec 2015, 02:34

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by scriptor2016 » 02 Jan 2021, 22:05

YouTube has really stepped up their ad game and it is indeed out of control. It's near unbearable now.

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I'm now using nsfwyoutube.com to destroy all ads.

If this is the link to your video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVKEM4K8J8A

then remove everything before the youtube part and in its place type in nsfw as seen below:

nsfwyoutube.com/watch?v=gVKEM4K8J8A

and it takes you to the site which plays all youtube videos, 100% ad free.

The downside is that comments are not available, but hey at least we can watch entire videos without a single advertisement.

There are very rare times it doesn't work as I assume Google is on to this trick and I would guess they are trying to stop this at every turn, but it is 99% of the time up and running. My only worry is that the more people who know about this, the bigger it gets and then Google finds a way to shut it down for good, even though it is entirely legal. Keep this on the downlow ;)


Again I apologise if this is a common thing but for anyone who may have not seen this before, then enjoy :)

Guest

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Guest » 07 Feb 2021, 20:41

scriptor2016 wrote:
02 Jan 2021, 22:05
YouTube has really stepped up their ad game and it is indeed out of control. It's near unbearable now.

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I'm now using nsfwyoutube.com to destroy all ads.

If this is the link to your video:

https www.youtube.com /watch?v=gVKEM4K8J8A Broken Link for safety

then remove everything before the youtube part and in its place type in nsfw as seen below:

nsfwyoutube.com/watch?v=gVKEM4K8J8A

and it takes you to the site which plays all youtube videos, 100% ad free.

The downside is that comments are not available, but hey at least we can watch entire videos without a single advertisement.

There are very rare times it doesn't work as I assume Google is on to this trick and I would guess they are trying to stop this at every turn, but it is 99% of the time up and running. My only worry is that the more people who know about this, the bigger it gets and then Google finds a way to shut it down for good, even though it is entirely legal. Keep this on the downlow ;)


Again I apologise if this is a common thing but for anyone who may have not seen this before, then enjoy :)
Isn't using an adblocker extension the best solution in this case? It only blocks the ads and not anything else.

Nofeko
Posts: 2
Joined: 09 Feb 2021, 05:21

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by Nofeko » 16 Feb 2021, 12:13

Well youtube is a winner in any case... You either watch ads and they get paid for it or you get a free ad account but you pay youtube to remove ads anyway :lol: So they don't care in any way

gregster
Posts: 8886
Joined: 30 Sep 2013, 06:48

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by gregster » 16 Feb 2021, 13:41

Nofeko wrote:
16 Feb 2021, 12:13
Well youtube is a winner in any case... You either watch ads and they get paid for it or you get a free ad account but you pay youtube to remove ads anyway :lol: So they don't care in any way
gregster wrote:
29 Nov 2019, 21:46
in my main browser Firefox I haven't seen Youtube ads for a long time
Still true today ^^^
So I am quite happy if YT doesn't care.

SOTE
Posts: 1426
Joined: 15 Jun 2015, 06:21

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by SOTE » 17 Feb 2021, 00:36

scriptor2016 wrote:
02 Jan 2021, 22:05
YouTube has really stepped up their ad game and it is indeed out of control. It's near unbearable now.

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I'm now using nsfwyoutube.com to destroy all ads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVKEM4K8J8A

nsfwyoutube.com/watch?v=gVKEM4K8J8A
The uBlock extension for Chrome and Firefox works really well, if you configure it properly. The thing about nsfwyoutube, is not quite sure if they are up to anything. Remember, as a website, they can be collecting user information and doing unpublicized things. But anyway, all this is on Google and their insanity. Clearly users who are being overwhelmed with ads will push back in various ways.

Google should have sat down a long time ago and figured out ways to make ads more "digestible" and viewer friendly on YouTube. Arguably, I rather see ads at the beginning and/or end, instead of in the middle of the content. Getting ad attacked every few minutes is the worse. Sadly, there are some content creators who add their own ads or can't get monetized with YouTube, tend to love putting ads in the middle of content as well. But at least with such content creators, this behavior is infrequent, because they have other methods to get support, like direct donations or donations on live streams. As for YouTube, they should have debatably divided up their premium service, to create a cheap ad-free option. As for what they have now, their base premium is way too expensive to be attractive, if the person simply doesn't want to see ads.

HuckD
Posts: 7
Joined: 16 Feb 2021, 15:27

Re: YouTube Ads

Post by HuckD » 16 Mar 2021, 20:56

As a 74-year-old who spends a lot of time on YouTube, I decided it just wasn't worth the effort and aggravation to keep fighting the ads on a desktop, laptop, tablet and my phone. I signed up for YouTube Premium and don't regret it.

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